Nadya Natahadibrata, Jakarta – The Education and Culture Ministry decided to retain the national examinations, defying criticism from education experts who said the educational policy was a waste of money and would not improve the quality of education.

The ministry on Friday wrapped up a two-day convention attended by teachers and education experts to evaluate the implementation of the national examinations. The meeting, it claimed, concluded that the national examinations should be taken into consideration when determining students' graduation.

Education and Culture Deputy Minister Musliar Kasim said on Friday that the convention had decided that student' final grades would continue to be determined using both the national exam results and final school tests, weighted 60 percent and 40 percent respectively.

"All participants have agreed on the continuity and the importance of the national examination. Some people said that the exam had taken away teacher's rights and caused stress among students. However, we must conclude that the exam measures a student's capability," Musliar told reporters.

The government's decision raised the ire of several education activists who have voiced their strong objection of the national examinations and were not given the opportunity to make their case during the convention.

Elin Driana, educator observer from the Education Forum said that the Education and Culture Ministry had never intended to start a discussion on the importance of the national exam existence, as they limited the forum to the discussion of the exam's technical problems.

"I was very disappointed with the convention because it has failed to discuss the importance of the exams, which had long been called into question. The discussion was limited to technical issues," Elin told The Jakarta Post. "The participants who were invited were mostly come from education agencies. Nobody present wanted to hear criticisms," she continued.

Elin, who is also a lecturer at Jakarta-based HAMKA University said that the government had failed to present a clear argument about the importance of the national exam. "For the last 10 years since the national exam was initiated, the ministry had never published a thorough analysis regarding the exam and how did they measure its importance," she said.

On Thursday, several convention participants decided to walk out of the forum, including the secretary-general of the Indonesian teachers Unions Federation Retno Listyarti, who said that the federation would file a judicial review request with the Supreme Court to annul the 2013 government regulation on the national examinations.

Separately, member of House of Representatives Commission X overseeing education, youth and sport Zulfadli said that the ministry should have given schools greater authority to determine what students graduated

"The government should gradually give the school the full authority to determine its student's final grades," Zulfadli said, adding that the result of the convention would be further discussed at the House.

The convention had also decided that the government should hand over the task to print and distribute the exam materials to regional administrations, to avoid distribution delays to remote areas.

"Our main concern is the increasing possibility of the exams materials being leaked should the government give the authority to the regional administrations," said Zulfadli.